“Duck” is hard to classify: it’s part comedy and part tragedy. It takes place in Los Angeles in 2009. Arthur, a retired professor who has outlived his family, has run out of reasons to live. His wife and son are dead, their beloved city park is set to be demolished to make way for condos, and his landlord keeps threatening to evict him. But when Arthur visits his family’s grave, apparently for a final farewell, he is found by an orphaned duckling. He tries to shoo it away, but it knows a good guy when it sees one and won’t take no for an answer. In spite of the landlord’s rules against animals, Arthur takes the duckling in and names him Joe. When the pond in the park is drained, Arthur and Joe head for the beach, on foot, through central LA.
Their journey is an oddyssey through an unfriendly world — even the folks at an A.A. meeting they visit for a chance at free coffee and donuts give them grief — but Joe and Arthur are survivors. Their passage changes both them and many of the people they come into contact with, because in 2009 their kind of caring and compassion is rare. This is both a humorous and poignant film, with a quiet message: the keys to a meaningful life are compassion and friendship.
Screens 3/11, 7:15 pm (Camera 12); 3/12, 5:00 pm (California Theater); and 3/13, 2:30 pm (Camera 12).